<p>The New Orleans Saints have been on a roller-coaster ride this season.</p><p>The ride started with a huge dip, an 0-4 start to the regular season that included losses to the Washington Redskins, the Carolina Panthers, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Green Bay Packers.</p><p>The losses to the Redskins and Panthers stung the most because neither team has proven to be very good. The Chiefs, in fact, have won just that one game.</p><p>The lowest of lows soon took an upturn, with the Saints winning five of the next six games to even their record at 5-5 after 10 games.</p><p>In that span, they recorded wins over the Chargers, Buccaneers, Eagles, Falcons and Raiders. Only a loss to the Broncos marred that stretch of games.</p><p>The peak, though, did not last long.</p><p>In the past two weeks, the Saints have lost two games, and star quarterback Drew Brees has looked more human than Black and Gold fans are used to seeing.</p><p>On Thursday night, in a nationally televised game, the Saints uncharacteristically struggled offensively, and Brees threw five interceptions — the most in a single game in his career.</p><p>Even with all the miscues, the Saints were in the game until the end. But they lost to their division rivals.</p><p>So now, the team and its fans have to hope the season's roller-coaster ride has another hill left to go.</p><p>The team is 5-7 with four games remaining.</p><p>It would be possible for the Saints to win the last four games, finish with a 9-7 record and make the playoffs.</p><p>Doing so would mean they would be on a stretch of huge wins going into the playoffs, a fact that would make them a tough matchup for any of the other teams.</p><p>But winning four games in a row — particularly after such challenging defeats — is asking a lot of Brees and his teammates.</p><p>They have consistently shown, though, that they are up to tough tasks.</p><p>Since Brees came to play for the Saints, they have seen a remarkable run of impressive seasons. Even the seasons when the team missed out on the playoffs, they had some good wins.</p><p>And that is what they will need if they have hopes of the postseason this year.</p><p>The players seem to remain focused on finishing the season on a winning note, and doing so could bring the team to another playoff appearance.</p><p>The fans, too, maintain the hope that their team will come out of this roller-coaster ride on a high note.</p><p>Geaux Saints!</p><p>Editorials represent the opinions of the newspaper, not of any individual.</p>